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Myth of Nick
'"Myth of Nick" '''is the first half of the eighth episode of the second season of ''Wayside. Synopsis Todd tries to disprove the existence of a kid named Nick he's heard about in several stories. Plot This episode starts with a bus passing by the schoolyard as many kids are talking about Nick. Todd gets off the bus, and starts walking to class, as he sees Eric Bacon preparing to reach into a garbage can to retrieve homework he accidentally dropped. Eric Fry warns him, however, saying that a kid named Nick once did that, and got "Garbage Hands" for a month, showing a flashback of him in Roger's class with garbage covering his arm. Eric Fry knocks over the trash can for Eric Bacon using his foot, so he doesn't have to reach inside. As Todd walks inside, he hears other students talking about a story with Nick and a giant can of beans, and furthermore hears Myron warning Stephen not to use the cow bathroom, as he recalls a story where Nick used that bathroom, and from then on, milk would pour out of his ears whenever he laughed. Later, Todd finds Maurecia talking with Dana, preparing to attempt reaching the nineteenth story, but before Dana can finish telling her Nick story, Todd comes in and says that he believes Nick doesn't exist, and he sets out to prove it. Todd starts in the library, where he is unable to find Nick in any of the school's yearbooks, weekbooks, or minutebooks. He tries to check the school records in the principal's office, but is not able to find any records on Nick. In the school's lost and found, he can't find anything that belongs to Nick, and when he tries to get Bebe to sketch Nick, he just ends up looking like an amalgam of features of the other students in class directing the drawing. Todd says that all of this is because Nick only exists as an excuse to explain things the students can't understand, but the students don't think he's "proving" anything, especially not regarding Nick and the nineteenth story. Todd decides to prove the story's fake by skateboarding down the ramp that Maurecia and Dana had set up. When he fails to reach the nineteenth story, he says the story is fake, but the other students remain unconvinced. As such, he decides to tackle the "Can of Beans" story next. Outside, Todd dives into a giant can of beans. When he comes out, he is briefly covered in them, resembling a giant monster, but the beans quickly fall off. The other students are still unconvinced, however, since Nick dived into a different can of beans. Todd, however, does believe he can disprove the story about the cow bathroom. The other students try to stop Todd from entering, particularly Maurecia, who gets really melodramatic, but after she punches him into the room, Todd discovers it's just a regular bathroom that cows occasionally use. After realizing Todd is no different after leaving the cow bathroom, Todd explains that once and for all the Nick stories have been disproved, which leads to the other kids being bummed out. They leave, upset that the Nick stories are untrue, and while Todd attempts to remedy the situation, he isn't able to, surprised how attached some kids could be to fake stories about a fake kid. Todd decides to walk away, hearing a clamor when Louis is cleaning out the trash closet. Louis notices Todd is upset, and asks what's wrong, and Todd explains that while he finally proved Nick is fake, he just made everyone feel worse. Louis says that reminds him of another Nick story, and while Todd initially tries to stop him, Louis assures it's a good one. Louis talks about how Nick loved Wayside School so much, that he promised to never leave, and that in the end, he stayed and got the best job in the world. Todd asks what's up with Louis's arm, and he pulls it out of the closet, revealing he has "Garbage Hands." Todd finally connects everything and realizes Louis is actually Nick, and Louis explains that "Nick" is his middle name. Todd asks if the stories are real, and Louis says they're true enough, and that some students make up what they need along the way. Todd asks if it upsets him that the stories aren't completely true, but Louis says that he feels content as long as the kids are happy. Realizing that what he's done is wrong, Todd decides he needs to set things straight. In Mrs. Jewls's class, everyone is bummed, when Todd bursts in saying he has news about Nick. Initially everyone is upset, ready to hear more about how he's fake, but Todd exclaims that while he thought he had proved that Nick is fake, that he has evidence for the contrary. He pulls out a glass, and milk starts pouring out of his ear, amazing his classmates. They ask if the other stories are true, and Todd says that they're... "true enough." Todd starts talking to Louis, preparing to get a machine shut off, but Louis busts the remote, causing the machine pumping milk out of Todd's ear to keep on moving. Todd tries to block the hose bringing the milk in, but ends up bursting it, drenching the entire classroom. Myron realizes the milk wasn't actually coming out of Todd's ear, and Todd prepares to explain, but Dana and Maurecia think it explains everything, realizing that must've been what the cows did to Nick. They exclaim that the story is even better now that it's a Todd story and the class cheers. Todd and Louis exchange thumbs ups, and Louis laughs, causing a bit of milk to pour out of his ear. Characters *Incidental 013 *Incidental 003 *Elizabeth *Incidental 006 *Louis **Nick *Todd *Incidental 009 *Eric Bacon *Eric Fry *Roger *Incidental 016 *Incidental 050 *Stephen *Myron *Cows *Mr. Kidswatter *Yodana *Maurecia *Miss Mush *Bebe *Bebe *Rondi *Stephen *Eric Ovens *Leslie *John *Jenny *Shari Transcript Read a transcript for "Myth of Nick" here. Trivia * This episode reveals that Nick is Louis's middle name. Early draft A conversation with wiki administrator CompliensCreator00 and John Derevlany about the identity of Elizabeth, whose name was unknown at the time, did not solve her identity crisis, but it did lead to her getting access to an earlier draft of this episode's script. According to Derevlany, this was the final version of the script, but even from here, noticeable differences can be seen compared to the final episode. A PDF of the draft script can be read here. *The episode's production number is listed as 21b, meaning at one point it was likely the second episode of its pair. Interestingly, many episode listings do reverse the order of this episode and "Dr. Dana." Additionally, it states the script was finished January 9, 2006, well over a year before it aired. *The scene with various incidental students talking about Nick stories at the beginning of the episode is absent, as well as Todd getting off the bus. The episode begins with Todd walking into Wayside School and passing by Eric Fry and Eric Bacon. *Rather than "Garbage Hands," as happens in the final episode, Nick gets "Trash Can Hands," where the entire trash can sticks to his hand. Additionally, the story is slightly different, with Nick eating dinner at his grandma's, rather than answering a question in class. *The script states that Nick would have blue hair like Louis when people tell the stories, but in the final episode, he always has brown hair, and is shown with blue hair only during Louis's flashback at the end. *Due to the altered Nick story, the final episode has Eric Fry knocking over the trash can so Eric Bacon doesn't have to reach into it. The draft has Eric Bacon frantically trying to get his arm out, and fortunately succeeding. *During the "ear milk" flashback, Nick was supposed to moo like a cow after exiting the bathroom, and at the end of the flashback, many thirsty kids would run up with glasses to get the milk that was pouring out of his ears. After the flashback, Stephen was supposed to run of and use the boys' bathroom instead. *Rather than the nineteenth story flashback reversing when Todd stopped it, Nick was supposed to look around for a second, wondering what happened to his flashback. *During the minutebook sequence, Todd simply asked where Nick is in them before moving to the next scene. In the final episode, he sees a brief screenshot of the future, showing himself getting hit on the head, with the exact image playing out, before the scene moves on. *In the early script, the records were the final drawer Todd pulled open instead of the first, and they were supposed to have a large folder for "344 South Fairview." *The "Lost and Found" scene in the final episode is entirely absent from the original script. *During Bebe's "police sketch" scene, she was supposed to draw different sketches for each student's different description, including sketches by Leslie and John, who do not appear during this sequence in the final episode. *When Todd explains that Nick stories are made up to explain things kids can't understand, Myron was supposed to be hanging up several "Vote for Me" posters, and instead of remarking that he simply doesn't understand, he was supposed to say that Nick was the only person to lose more class elections than him, and he'd make regular remarks while Todd continues his rant. *Rather than skateboarding down the ramp, Todd tried simply jumping up to the hole in the wall to prove the nineteenth story was impossible to reach, and he tries it multiple times, rather than just once. *The "can of beans" story is also absent from the final script, as the scenes of Todd walking by the students talking about it is also missing. *During Maurecia's melodramatic scene during the "cow bathroom" story, she simply leans in for a kiss and punches him instead, rather than kissing her fist before punching him. Maurecia was also going to question what she has done when Todd lands inside. *Rather than the cow exiting the stall simply glancing at Todd, handing him its newspaper, and walking around, it was supposed to make a girlish screech and cover its udders as it ran into another stall. *Maurecia was supposed to punch Todd into the bathroom a second time, but this scene is cut in the final episode. *In the early draft, Maurecia, Myron, and Dana's dialogue is moved to before Todd suggests they tell stories about him instead. *During Louis's flashback towards the end of the episode, Nick, after being revealed to be Louis, was supposed to bounce a ball into the air and stare at the school glowing from the sun after he states he never wanted to leave. *Due to the altered story earlier on, Louis has "Garbage Hands" instead of "Trash Can Hands" towards the end of the episode in the final version, and a line where he mentions visiting his grandma is cut. *When Todd is realizing that Louis is Nick, rather than his head just spinning, he was supposed to flash back to all the Nick stories, now with Nick's face clearly revealed. *At the end of the episode, Todd initially wasn't going to gesture for Louis to turn the machine off, and that Todd would accidentally just reveal the hose himself, showing that it's tied to a milk container strapped to his back. Rather than drenching the entire class, only himself and Myron would get sprayed by milk. *When Louis looks out the door and exchanges thumbs ups with Todd, he was supposed to be holding extra hoses, rather than laugh and have milk pour out of his ear. Gallery See a gallery for "Myth of Nick" here. Category:Season 2 episodes Category:Episodes